Neuheisel to Be Fired As Wash. Coach

Published 8:00 pm, Wednesday, June 11, 2003

Rick Neuheisel will be fired as Washington's football coach for betting on NCAA basketball tournaments and lying to school officials about it, athletic director Barbara Hedges said Thursday.

Hedges said she had started the process of firing Neuheisel "for just cause."

Neuheisel, who acknowledged to NCAA investigators he bet on the tournaments, has been suspended with pay and has until June 26 to respond to the notice of termination.

"Rick's actions have left me little choice and have seriously undermined his ability to remain as head football coach at the university," Hedges said.

A decision on a new coach will be announced in a few days, she said.

Neuheisel could not be reached Thursday by The Associated Press. In an interview Wednesday night with KING-TV, he said he had been dismissed.

"This is a sad night for me because I've poured a lot of myself into this job _ and it was a great job," Neuheisel said.

"I am not the guy they're portraying me to be," he said. "I'll find new challenges. I will hopefully scale new ladders."

The NCAA prohibits coaches from gambling on college sports.

Neuheisel admitted last week he had placed bets with neighbors on the NCAA tournament over the past two years, an action that NCAA president Myles Brand called "totally unacceptable behavior."

Neuheisel insisted he didn't believe he had broken NCAA rules because it was an informal off-campus pool. He said an e-mail from the athletic department's compliance director gave him permission to participate.

The 42-year-old Neuheisel has had a tumultuous 4 1/2-year tenure at Washington.

Last fall, the NCAA banned Neuheisel from off-campus recruiting through this spring as punishment for 51 rules violations while he coached at Colorado. The American Football Coaches Association later censured him for showing a lack of remorse.

Earlier this year, Neuheisel interviewed with the San Francisco 49ers for their then-vacant coaching job but released a statement denying it. He later admitted he had lied.

Husky offensive coordinator Keith Gilbertson was widely expected to take over as interim coach. Gilbertson, 55, has more than 30 years of coaching experience in college and professional football.

"I have no official comment except that I don't have a boss," Gilbertson told the AP on Thursday. "I feel terrible about him."

Neuheisel was the latest coach exposed in a string of embarrassing episodes.

Mike Price was fired May 3 as Alabama's coach after he reportedly visited a topless bar and a woman billed about $1,000 worth of room service to his hotel room the next morning.

Larry Eustachy resigned as Iowa State's basketball coach on May 5, one week after publication of photographs showing him partying at an apartment in Columbia, Mo., after Iowa State's Jan. 21 loss.

Jim Harrick Jr., son of former Georgia head coach Jim Harrick, was fired in March after an academic fraud scandal. His father resigned later that month.

Neuheisel was hailed for his 11-1 record and Rose Bowl title after the 2000 season and for his sensitive handling of the paralysis and subsequent death of safety Curtis Williams.

He was also known for taking Colorado players on rafting trips and sometimes played a guitar in the locker room. He had pop music pumped through Husky Stadium loudspeakers during practice.

Asked whether it had hit him that he's no longer coach of the Huskies, he said Wednesday: "I didn't want to think about it during the fight during this last week because I thought it would derail my efforts.

"So I'm probably not dealing with reality, but the facts are the facts, and we deal with them."

Neuheisel was 33-16 at Washington after going 33-14 in four seasons at Colorado.

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He was picked by Colorado at 34 to succeed the retired Bill McCartney, and went 10-2 in each of his first two seasons and 13-10 the next two. He joined Washington for the 1999 season, replacing the fired Jim Lambright.